In U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,292 a surface-treatment wheel is described intended mainly for use stripping adhesive residue and foil off a lacquered metal surface. It is adapted to be rotated about an axis and has an outer ring unitarily formed of plastic or rubber with an array of identical radially outwardly projecting teeth that can be elastically deformed. This ring is carried on a hub that is fixed to the arbor of a drive unit, for instance a hand-held pneumatic drive, so that a user can press the rotating wheel against a surface to be cleaned and the teeth will rub off any foreign matter on the surface.
In the known system there is a tradeoff between operating speed and efficiency on the one side and tool life on the other. The higher the operating speed, the more efficiently the tool removes material from the surface being cleaned or buffed, but the more likely the teeth are to be abraded or even broken off.